How To Prepare For a Summer Road Trip

Man In Car Looking Over Sea

UK road trips are a fantastic option for a holiday this year, allowing you to explore large parts of the UK and see multiple destinations on the same trip.

As with any holiday, it’s a good idea to do a fair amount of planning beforehand to ensure that the trip is a success. That’s why we’ve put together some of our top tips for how best to prepare for you summer road trip.

Plan Your Route

It goes without saying that the most important part of a road trip is route planning. You may know your starting point and final destination but do you know what stops you’ll take along the way, or what route you’ll take between each location?

Make sure you take some time to plan how you’re going to get from A to B, researching any particular sites you’d like to visit on the way, and where you’ll be staying the night.

This should all be prepared in advance of the road trip, but it’s equally important to be ready to adapt if your primary route becomes blocked due to unforeseen circumstances. For this reason, you’ll want to utilise sat nav, whether this is built into your car, or you use your phone. This will allow you to avoid any delays or obstacles along the way.

Clean Your Car

 Spraying Inside Of Car

Courtesy of Unsplash

You’ll obviously be spending a large amount of time in your car on a road trip, so it makes sense to ensure that your car is clean and a pleasant place to be.

Whilst it’s not essential to clean the exterior of the car, it is advisable. However, you’ll really want to make sure that you’re not going to be sat in your car for hours with unpleasant smells and rubbish around your feet.

For this reason, you could remove all rubbish, and valet the interior of your car using a vacuum cleaner. Our top tip is to pay particular attention to the footwells, boot and seats where crumbs can congregate. You could also pick up some handy interior wipes, which will allow you to clean up any mess during the journey.

Perform Maintenance Tasks

The last thing you want on a road trip is to suffer an avoidable breakdown that could have been prevented through a few simple maintenance tasks before setting off.

We recommend checking your tyre pressure before your journey to make sure your tyres aren’t flat, or that you don’t have a potential puncture. It is also worthwhile investing in an emergency tyre repair kit in case you experience a puncture on the road.

You’ll also want to make sure that your car fluids are topped up, including engine oil and your washer fluid. This will mean that you won’t need to worry about stopping mid journey to refill your empty fluids.

Consider Storage Solutions

Man Packing Car Roof Box.jpg

Depending on your car and the nature of your trip, you may want to think about optimising your storage spaces, or increasing the amount of storage available to you, so you can take everything you need and still travel in comfort.

For example, a roof rack will allow you to add a roof box for extra luggage or camping equipment, and a cycle rack will allow you to take your bikes with you.

Prepare Journey Entertainment

If you’ll be travelling with children, it’s a good idea to make sure they’re able to keep themselves entertained on the journey, for both your sanity and theirs!

Bring along some of their favourite toys, entertainment devices and games to keep them occupied during the journey, as well as snacks and refreshments. Whilst it’s a good idea to avoid items which can be messy or can get lost in the car, you can invest in a travel table to allow them to play board games, draw, or make a jigsaw puzzle.  

Invest In a Dashcam

Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam with Amazon Alexa

Dashcams are a great way to protect yourself whilst driving, allowing you to provide evidence in the event that you’re involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault, and they can also be used on a road trip to save your memories of the holiday.

If you’re driving through some particularly spectacular scenery, or happen to see something special on your journey, you can use the footage from the dashcam in a holiday photo or video montage.

For all your summer motoring essentials, visit CarParts4Less.